Love You Forever – written by Robert Munsch, illustrated by Sheila McGraw
In 2007, my oldest daughter, then a newborn, was gifted with this classic children’s book. The story’s arc is simple, yet the message remains powerful. A mother rocks her child in various stages of his life, singing the same lullaby: I’ll love you forever, I’ll like you for always, As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be. Of course, she, too, experiences various stages of life. In the beginning, she is a new mother. As time goes on, she ages, yet her maternal dedication never wanes. Even when her son grows up and moves across town, she drives in the middle of the night to his home so that she can sing to him. In the end, she grows very old and sick, and it becomes the son’s turn to rock his mother and sing to her. When he returns to his own home, the son, now a full-grown man, stops at the top of the stairs and pauses before going into his own daughter’s room to continue the beautiful tradition. To her, he sings the same words: As long as I’m living, my baby you’ll be.
Even now, on the verge of my fiftieth year, I cannot make it through this story without my eyes welling up with tears. It hits me hard. Perhaps the reason is that I have much to look back on. My three daughters are teenagers, and my own mother is far more distant than just being across town. I have lived many milestones at least enough to know that they come and go quickly. The years, the experiences, the ups and downs are right in front of me, yet they remain so difficult to believe. Did it all really happen? Am I really where I am now?
When my girls were in preschool, I once theorized that life might be akin to this experience. God carries us into the classroom and sets us down. For a time, we play. We learn. We make friends and mistakes. We get to be creative, and we get to learn about some rules. We do our best. We enjoy our snacks. But eventually, God returns at which point we raise our arms in the air, beckoning Him to pick us up, and He does. Our time is finished. He pulls us back into his warm embrace.
This world is our school, but it is not our home. Perhaps this explains why the book continues to have such an impact. The characters and the scenery change throughout, but the song remains the same. It is eternal. Love is eternal. We all know this to be true deep down. To be sure, those who have been, let’s say, enrolled in this school longer have an even better grasp of how true it really is. And what this inevitably generates is a gratitude borne out of being relieved by it all. Yes, the years stack up. Yes, I am immeasurably grateful for the experiences. But the end is love. Forever. It does not perish.
What would our world look like if more of us lived this truth? Would the trivial details matter as much? Would we spend our time differently? Would our priorities be the same as they seemingly are now? I have my answer. I would think that you have yours.
https://www.amazon.com/Love-You-Forever-Robert-Munsch/dp/0920668372
